Diplomatic Immunity
by Eliza Hayes
Summary: Jim and Blair have just captured a human animal for raping and killing young girls. They can't arrest him ... They just have to keep him alive.    Rated R for sexual situations that happened off screen and bad language.


A distressed and blood-covered Sandburg grew steadily paler as the police loaded up the twelve year old girl in the gurney to be shipped to the morgue like so much unwanted garbage. Sandburg still couldn't get used to bloody crime scenes like these. Especially when children are the victims. Ellison, with his help, caught the criminal in the act but not soon enough to save Mary Sherman, the current victim. Sometimes even extra senses were not enough to stop all the predators from accomplishing their twisted missions.

'Sandburg? Sandburg?,' Ellison asked, growing more concerned. He knew that Sandburg would not soon forget the sight of Mary's blood gushing through the shirt that he pressed on the wound. Sandburg had tried to save her life and could not. Sometimes Ellison wished he could keep his partner as innocent as the day they met. But that was not possible or even practical given that Sandburg was now his official partner.

'I'm sorry, Jim. I wish that we got here before...'

'I know,' Ellison said sadly. 'Come on let's get cleaned up before we write our official report for Simon.'

Sandburg felt much better, physically, now that he had cleaned off Mary Sherman's blood. He often was surprised how much blood a person has in their body especially one as small as that poor child.

'Sandburg, Simon just called. He wants us at the station within the next 30 minutes.'

'What's the rush, we caught the bad guy ? The victim is at the morgue and the press got their pound of flesh.'

'Blair,' Ellison started, disturbed by Blair's bitterness. 'We need to file our report. Let's go and get it over with.'

'Okay, Jim.' Sandburg said wearily as he grabbed his keys and wallet.

'Don't forget your badge and gun, Chief.'

Sandburg walked over and picked up the gun and put it on and put his badge in his jacket pocket.

The drive to the station was a silent but not an uncomfortable one as Sandburg and Ellison reflected on the past month, both of them relieved that the rapist/murderer was finally caught.

As they walked into the station all the noise in the station suddenly stopped. They looked around at their fellow officers, puzzled and wary.

'What's going on, fellas?' Ellison asked.

Nothing!' one of the officers stated uncomfortably.

'Come on Roberts, spill.'

'Jim, shouldn't we see Simon?'

Ellison, torn between interrogating his fellow officer and seeing Simon, reluctantly left to get on the elevator with Sandburg.

'What was that all ?'

'Shh,' Ellison said going into his classic hearing mode. 'I can't believe it. I just can't believe it.'

'What's going on Jim?'

As Ellison was about to answer the doors opened. Ellison rushed out, heading toward Simon's office, with Sandburg close behind him. Simon looked up as Ellison stormed into his office. Sandburg came in after him automatically closing the door.

'How could you let the bastard go! He killed five young girls including the one that died in Sandburg's arms!'

'They let him go?' Sandburg asked, totally devastated by the turn of events.

'His father is Jonathan Weller IV the ambassador. His son, Trevor, has diplomatic immunity.' Simon said with restrained fury.

'So what's going to happen to him? Are we just going to let him get a way with it?' demanded Sandburg, shaking with anger and disgust.

'Sandburg, we can't do anything. It's a diplomatic issue.'

'So why call Blair and me into the station? Obviously we have no case.'

'Jonathan Weller is concerned about his son, Trevor.'

'Sounds like he's a few years too late,' Sandburg said.

'Simon, you can't mean.'

'I don't like this anymore than you do.'

'What's going on?' Sandburg looking from one man to the other in confusion.

'Jonathan Weller and his embassy want you to help protect his son.'

'What?' Sandburg exclaimed.

'We just arrested him for murdering a 12-year-old girl right in front of us. He killed and raped four others. Blair and I spent the better part of the month tracking him down. And now you want us to protect him from the public who is justified in wanting to see him punished.'

'Jim, I'm sorry but starting tomorrow at 5:00PM you and Sandburg will be taking over from Rafe and Brown.'

'What about his embassy?'

'They won't have enough men to guard him until tomorrow.'

'Why not?'

'Sandburg, our city only rates a small satellite consulate. They don't have enough men to protect him. So, you and Jim, along with Rafe and Brown will guard him for those two days. We'll then hand Mr. Weller over to their Security Chief, Mr. Freedman, who will be arriving tomorrow.'

After receiving the rest of the information from Simon, Ellison turned and stormed out of the office as angrily as he entered it. Sandburg followed Ellison with a dazed look on his face. The ride home was filled with tension and anger.

'What are we going to do?' Sandburg asked his voice sounding harsh and unnatural.

'Our duty.' Ellison said briefly.

sssssssssssssssssss

Sandburg looked at him for a moment and then turned to look out the window for the rest of the journey home.

'The cops that caught me killing that girl protecting me from citizens of Cascade? The irony of it,' Trevor chortled smugly for what seemed to be the hundredth time to Ellison and Sandburg.

Ellison looked at him silently with his jaw clenched. He got up to circle of the ugly motel 'suite' which constituted the safe house.

'Do you want some coffee, Jim?' Blair asked from the small kitchenette, trying to prevent the explosion that could ruin Ellison's career.

'No!'

'I do.' Trevor answered. 'Or better yet I think I'll have some of the special wine. He walked toward the kitchen. 'It's a dark, red, sweet little number sort of like young girls' blood.'

Trevor grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter and headed over to his coat and took out a thin metal wine opener. He pushed the wine opener in and Ellison and Sandburg heard a hissing sound within the bottle. The cork slowly came out due to air being forced into the bottle. He sniffed the cork after it popped out.

'This bottle of wine probably costs more than your entire wardrobe.'

As Trevor put the wine opener back in his coat pocket he looked up at the two detectives with an arrogant smile. 'It's a gas powered wine opener,' he explained in a pompous tone. 'CO2 is forced into the bottle the pressure of the gas pushes the cork out. Get me a glass for my drink, Sandburg.'

Sandburg ignored him and finished the interrupted task of pouring some coffee wishing he had some of his herbal tea instead.

'Listen boy, don't ignore me. Get me a glass.' Trevor said moving toward Sandburg threateningly.

Ellison was beside Sandburg in an instant pulling out his gun.

'Jim. Jim, it's alright.' Sandburg said placing a hand on Ellison's shoulder.

Ellison glared at Trevor Weller who nervously backed away from the pissed- off detective suddenly realizing how close to death he had come.

After the sufficiently cowed Trevor Weller moved away from Sandburg Ellison made another circle of the room. Trevor continued to stare at the pacing detective for a few moments before heading toward the tiny bedroom with his wine.

'Call me for breakfast.' Trevor stated trying to recover his earlier arrogance.

Both Sandburg and Ellison looked at him. Finally, Ellison nodded his head and went back to his pacing of the room. Sandburg placed his coffee down before sitting on the sofa. Sandburg leaned his head back resting his head on the wall. A minute later he was asleep.

* As he stood looking around the peaceful mountainside Sandburg realized he must have been dreaming . Everything seemed peaceful but Sandburg somehow knew that was an illusion as he started running through the woods. Everything around him was unfamiliar but he kept going. The woods were quiet as if the animals and the trees themselves were as frightened as he was.

A moment later, Sandburg reached a cabin in a clearing and felt safer. That feeling ended when he opened the door and came face to face with a body hanging there. At first Sandburg didn't know who the man was but as the body swung around he realized who it was. 'Jim!' Sandburg screamed.*

'Chief ? Chief,' Ellison said shaking Sandburg gently.

'Jim?' Sandburg gasped as his heart gradually climbed back down to his chest.

'It's time to bring him to the embassy.'

'Oh man, I'm sorry I fell asleep! I'm supposed to help you guard him. We're partners now. '

'That's okay, partner. C'mon and get up. We have to get Weller to his embassy by 5:00AM.'

'Okay, but we'll talk about this later!', Sandburg said heading to the back room to wake up Weller.

After a lot of bitching on Weller's part, Sandburg and Ellison loaded him in the rental car take him to the embassy. As they approached their destination they saw the entranceway of the embassy blocked by throngs of people including several news people.

Ellison pulled over to park a few blocks away and pulled out his cell phone.

'Simon.'

'Have you finished your assignment?'

'No. There's a mob a people in front of the embassy.'

'How did they find out when Weller was coming?'

'I didn't tell them. If I had, I would have told them to bring some rope.'

'Jim. Hold on a second. Let me check with the embassy to see what they want us to do.'

Ellison waited barely holding on to his patience as Simon talked on the other line. Sandburg looked both worried and concerned as he viewed the crowd.

'What's going on?' Weller asked.

'Shut up!' Ellison growled.

Sandburg looked increasingly worried as the crowd appeared to shift. Some of the people were looking in their direction.

'Jim. The crowd almost seems to know we're here.'

'They'll do what Americans always do. Wave a few signs, pretending that they're actually accomplishing something.' Weller stated.

'Deliver Weller to the embassy.' Simon said

'Okay, what's the new time?'

'Right now! The embassy security will hold off the crowd and media as you bring him in.'

'And you believe them?'

'Ellison. Get Weller into the embassy NOW!'

Jim shut down his cell phone.

'The embassy wants us to bring Weller in now.'

'Yes, I heard,' Sandburg said dryly.

Ellison started the car again and slowly drove toward embassy. The people started to go crazy when they saw who was in the car, banging on the windows and doors. Ellison looked over at his partner who had an uncharacteristic look of panic on his face.

'Thank God it's not 'Sweetheart',' Ellison said. Sandburg looked up surprised at the seemingly random comment and smiled visibly calming down.

'I don't know maybe you can get a better truck if 'Sweetheart' was damaged in the line of duty.'

'Bite your tongue, Sandburg.' Ellison said darkly ruining the effect with his smile.

'Are you two love birds finished?,' Weller sneered from the back seat. 'I want to see my father.'

Both Ellison and Sandburg stopped smiling. They looked again at the crowd which was being restrained by the embassy security.

'Okay, Sandburg, I'll get Weller out. You take the rear. Be careful.'

'You too, Jim.'

'Queers.' Weller said.

Ellison glared at him as he got out of the car. He cautiously opened the rear driver side door and let Weller out. Sandburg, by this time, was waiting on the other side looking nervously at the crowd.

Ellison, pushing Weller along, headed to the embassy doors with Sandburg following behind them.

For a brief instant, security lost control of the crowd. Sandburg tried to block the crowd but was thrown violently to the ground.

'Blair!' After briefly glance to assure himself that the security was nearby, Ellison ran to help his partner, leaving Weller in the protection of his nation's security.

The outraged citizens immediately mobbed Weller. A number of them attacked him ferociously before Ellison and Sandburg could get to him.

Finally, Ellison and Sandburg subdued the crowd with the help of the security force. Weller collapsed unmoving on the ground as the crowd moved away from him. Ellison knelt down and felt Weller's neck for a pulse.

'He's dead.' Ellison said surprised.

The crowd went silent. Ellison pulled out his cell phone and made a call requesting backup and ambulance at the scene.

Part II

Two days after Weller's death, Ellison and Sandburg sat in Simon's office waiting impatiently for Simon to finish reading their report on the incident. Finally, Simon looked up.

'The FBI is taking over the case. They'll be in contact with you two to set up an interview.'

'We were there. Shouldn't we get the case?'

'Ellison, you and Sandburg are too close to this case.'

'That's not it. They think we let the mob kill him.' Ellison said bitterly.

'Ellison, you're out of order. Now, I want you and Sandburg to cooperate fully with the FBI on this case.'

'This case goes on and on and on like some demented pink bunny. We catch Weller, then we protect him and now we are implicated in his murder.' Sandburg said as he and Ellison left Simon's office.

'Sandburg, Simon is right.'

'We can't just drop it.'

'I'm sure the FBI is perfectly capable of solving this case.' Ellison said as the left Simon's office.

'Who are you and what have you done with 'real' Ellison?' Sandburg asked as the walked out of the Major Crimes office.

'First, let's get up to the morgue to see what the coroner's found.' Ellison said wryly.

A few minutes later both Ellison and a sickly Sandburg were in the morgue watching, Dr. Redding dissect a bullet-riddled body of a drive-by-shooting victim.

'Dr. Redding, did you have the opportunity to examine Weller's body?'

'Weller?' Dr. Redding said distractedly.

'The guy under our protection.'

'Oh you mean the rapist. He was stabbed through the heart. But that's not the odd thing. He didn't die from the stabbing itself. His heart exploded in his chest. No fuss..no muss. Didn't even had time to scream.'

'A knife wound?' Sandburg said wondering how on earth someone could slip out a blade in front of two cameras with God knows how many witnesses around.

'The heart doesn't explode from a knife wound. Plus the shape of the wound is more like an ice pick. Maybe poison on the tip of the blade. I'll know more after the results from the lab come back.'

'Interesting.' Ellison said. 'The killer had the weapon in and out of him within seconds. Definitely a pro or a very lucky jab.'

'Do you think one of the parents of the murdered children did this?'

'Possibly or one of their friends.'

'If there's nothing further, I'd like my morgue back,' Dr. Redding interrupted.

Ellison and Sandburg headed over to the FBI office to talk to the agents in charge of the case. On entering the opulent surroundings, an attractive secretary took their names and directed them to take a small conference room.

Almost immediately, two men entered the room. The older of the two was stereotypical FBI, with polished, bland good looks. The second man was slightly younger wearing a black suit so typical of the FBI.

'I'm Jim Ellison. This is my partner, Blair Sandburg.'

'I'm Special Agent Nichols and this is my partner Special Agent Nelson,' said the older man.

'I heard about you two especially 'Detective' Sandburg. How do I know that you didn't set Weller up. Thanks to you, a guest of our country is dead,' Nelson said snidely.

'We caught your 'guest' raping and killing a 12-year-old girl,' Ellison growled. 'You got any kids, Nichols? Any daughters?.'

'Your partner could have set him up without you knowing about it.' Nelson said coolly.

'First of all, my partner would never do anything behind my back. Secondly, if you read the case files, you would know your 'guest' was a serial killer. Detective Junot and Herman from Seattle Homicide were also working the case. They collected the evidence for weeks and connected the dots to our cases.'

'Detective Ellison,' the other man said. 'We're trying to find who killed Trevor Weller. Not throw stones.'

'Perhaps you should talk to the news crews and get their film of the incident.' Sandburg said.

'We're looking at all avenues of the case,' Agent Nichols said. 'Please follow me, Detective Sandburg. I would like to ask you some questions. Nelson why don't you use this room to question Detective Ellison?'

Sandburg looked back briefly at Ellison as he followed Agent Nichols out of the conference room. He followed the other agent to a smaller conference room with two chairs and a table.

'Would you like something to drink before we begin?' Agent Nichols asked as Sandburg sat down on a gray metal.

'No thank you,' Sandburg answered knowing the tactics of filling up the suspect with water or coffee and then not letting the poor bastard to go use the rest room. 'However, I could use a better chair.'

'Couldn't we all.'

Agent Nichols leaned over the table, invading Blair's space.

'Detective Sandburg, why don't we start at the beginning with your being assigned the rape-homicide case.'

'Captain Banks called us into the office and gave us the rape- homicide of a little girl, Ashley Howard. Jim ... Detective Ellison and I worked the case and after a few weeks, found three other cases in Washington State with the same MO We knew that the children were being killed at a different location and dumped.'

'How did you find out the where the victims were being killed?'

'Forensics discovered some raw basil, raw saffron and raw curry on Ashley's dress,' Sandburg stated glossing over the fact Ellison sniffed out the raw basil and raw saffron from the child's dress. 'Since we didn't find any type of soil we figured Jennifer had to be killed inside. The only other places that fit those requirements were the spice plant or a specialty shops that sells to several types of restaurants. We located several specialty shops, a spice plant and a nursery that grows the raw spices and was being renovated. Although the specialty nursery was a long shot because of the soil and mud.'

'Get to the point.' Agent Nichols interrupted suspecting correctly that Sandburg could go on for another hour about how he and Ellison narrowed down the search to the plant.

'After narrowing down the search , Jim and I went to the different locations. We saved the spice plant for last since it was furthest away.' Sandburg broke off suddenly thinking for the thousandth time if only they pick that place first Mary Sherman would still be alive.

'Detective Sandburg ... Detective Sandburg' Agent Nichols said.

'We were investigating the plant when we heard some muffled cries. I called for backup and ambulance as we followed the noise.' Sandburg continued on. 'We found Trevor Weller stabbing the young girl in the chest. Mr. Weller started to run. Jim tackled and handcuffed him as I tried to stop the bleeding. The ambulance and our backup came soon after.'

Three hours later and several repetitions of the events of the past month leading up to murder of Trevor Weller, Agent Nichols released Sandburg. Ellison was waiting impatiently in the reception area.

'Are you all right?' Ellison asked the visibly exhausted Sandburg.

'Yes, let's go home, now.'

Sandburg looked up as Ellison walked in the loft. He spent the better part of the day at the FBI with his partner and the night going through the cases of the murdered children and looking at cases from the different cities Weller was in trying to find if any of those parents could be suspects.

'Anything on the copy of the news tapes you got from your 'sources'?' Sandburg asked Ellison.

'I looked frame by frame on both films. And I can't find when Weller got stabbed. Even when I left to make sure the security of the embassy was close by.'

'Do you mean that the murderer was right behind him and the cameras didn't pick it up?'

'Yes. There were several people including the embassy personnel behind him. How about you? Did you find anything out about the parents?'

'Two sets of parents, a Mr. and Mrs. Sherman and Mr. and Mrs. Hess were at the protest. The Howards and the Dorseys said they were at home sleeping. Mr. and Mrs. Howard were visiting family in Maine. I set up a time to see the parents of the victim with the exception of the Dorseys and of course the Howards. I am still trying to compare any similar crimes to the cities Trevor Weller was in.'

'Any of the parents in the army, military. Anything.'

'Nothing. None of the parents even go camping. The closest any of them come is a day at the park.'

'It doesn't appear this case will be solved today. Why don't you stop work and rest a little. You look dreadful, Chief.'

'Thanks Jim.' Sandburg said. 'Let me finish the research on the other cities before I go to bed.'

'Don't stay up too late, Sandburg. Or I'm going to have revoke your computer privileges.'

'Very funny.'

Sandburg started going through the Internet again.

'What'll happen to us if Simon finds out we have been investigating the murder?,' Sandburg said as they pulled up to Sherman's suburban home.

'Chief, we're just finishing up the rape case which, by the way, is still ours.'

'That's mighty thin reasoning, Jim'

'Do you want to stop, Blair?'

'No. Let's see this through.'

They walked up to the door of the home. Before Ellison could even knock the door was opened by a haggard looking man in his early forties. He directed Ellison and Sandburg into the living room.

A woman even more worn out then the man was already sitting on the sofa. The man immediately sat down next to the woman and held her hand. Sandburg and Ellison sat down on chairs on either side of the sofa.

'Thank you for seeing us. I don't pretend to know how you feel at the loss of your daughter, Mary, but we would appreciate if you can answer a few questions.' Sandburg said sympathetically.

'That bastard deserved killing. Whoever did it deserves a medal, not to be bothered by the police.' Mr. Sherman said savagely.

'I understand but I just want to how you knew Trevor Weller was going to show up at the embassy?' Ellison said.

'We heard that you were bringing the Mary's killer at 5:00AM. So my mother watched the kids while we went to the protest.' Mrs. Sherman said.

'Who gave you that information?' interrupted Sandburg.

'It was on our answering machine.'

'Did you erase the message?'

'I don't know. John?'

'No' he answered. 'I couldn't bear to listen to all our friends who still have all their children safe tell me how sorry they are.' Mr. Sherman said while his wife put her arm around him.

'Can you please tell me what you saw?' Sandburg said gently.

'The embassy guards...or whatever they call them were pushing us back when you arrived. The crowd seemed to overwhelm the guards a moment later. It was kind of confused at this point. The crowd was beating Weller up and then I could have sworn I saw a guard right behind Weller. I thought that guard was going to pull him in the embassy. However, Weller fell and you were saying that he was dead.' Mr. Sherman said.

'How about you, Mrs. Sherman?'

'I saw you coming with Weller and the crowd surging forward. However, I was looking at Detective Sandburg when he fell. I couldn't see Mr. Weller from where I was standing because of the crowds attacking him. The next time I saw the rapist, Mr. Weller, he already on the ground.'

'If you can think of anything else. Please give me a call.' Ellison said standing up.

'Before we go can you get us the answering machine tape?' Sandburg asked.

Mrs. Sherman stepped into the other room with Sandburg following and popped the tape from the phone and handed to him. Sandburg took it from her with a smile.

The next day two men came into Captain Banks' office. A few minutes later Captain Banks asked Sandburg and Ellison to meet him in the conference room.

'Ellison, Sandburg. This is Ambassador Weller and his security advisor, Colonel Freedman.'

'Freedman,' Sandburg said wonderingly. He was going to say something further but was interrupted by a verbal attack by the Ambassador.

'So these are the two incompetents who allowed my son to die.'

'Ambassador Weller, both of the detectives protected your son to the best of their abilities. I am sure they thought, as I did, that our security could protect your son under the circumstance. Unfortunately, we were both wrong. Now the only thing we can do is find out who killed your son.' Colonel Freedman said.

'They should be punished.' Weller looked at both of the detectives with contempt and anger.

Ellison glared back at the Ambassador angrily while Sandburg looked on with an uncomfortable mixture of anger and empathy.

'Perhaps Ambassador, you should let us handle this situation. I know you have a lot of things to settle in order to get the body shipped back home.'

'Colonel Freedman, these men killed my son. I am staying!'

'Ambassador Weller. I am sure with your presence you can arrange for the body to be sent back home a lot quicker.' Colonel Freedman said firmly.

For an instant, Ambassador Weller looked like he was going to argue but he silently got up and quickly left the room.

Sandburg, Banks and Ellison looked at Colonel Freedman with amazement.

'I am sorry about Ambassador Weller. He loved his son a great deal.'

'We understand,' Sandburg said. 'We just have a few questions about the incident if you don't mind.'

'I thought your FBI is looking into it. However, I am at your disposal.'

'When did you first notice the crowd outside?' Sandburg asked.

'They started to arrive around 4:30 that morning.'

'Weren't you concerned considering that Trevor Weller was going to arrive about a half an hour later?' Sandburg asked.

'No.'

'Do you have any idea how the crowds knew when to arrive, Colonel Freedman?' Ellison questioned.

'I was not aware that the crowds knew anything of the sort.'

'Colonel Freedman was there any reason why you didn't change the meeting place?' Sandburg asked.

'If I knew Trevor Weller was going to be killed, I certainly would change the location. However, I did not think you Americans would actually kill him.'

'Can you tell us what you saw that morning leading up to the incident?' Ellison asked.

'After going through last minute details I was informed by a couple of my men about the crowd forming outside. I sent some of my men outside to control the crowds and wait for your arrival. Captain Banks called a moment later to suggest another location and time for the meet. However, my men informed me that the crowd was under control and it was safe to bring in Mr. Weller. When you and Trevor Weller stepped out of the car my men briefly lost control of the crowd. I saw Detective Sandburg fall out of the corner of my eye. I rushed to defend Trevor Weller and push back some of the crowd with both of your assistance. The next thing I noticed was that Mr. Weller was falling and Detective Ellison declared him dead soon after.'

'Colonel Freedman were you aware of 7 similar crimes that happened in your own country? I was especially interested in the Laslo case. Your oldest daughter married a man named Laslo, didn't she?' Sandburg stated.

Both Captain Banks and Ellison shot amazed looks at Sandburg. Colonel Freedman smiled respectfully at Sandburg.

'It seems I underestimated your police force. However, one you have no proof and two I have diplomatic immunity.'

'We have an answering machine tape with your voice on it telling the parents when Weller was going to be there,' Ellison said joining the act.

'I doubt that you can get an necessary voice match with an answering machine tape.'

'It doesn't matter! You're right, Colonel Freedman. You have diplomatic immunity and we can't prosecute you any more than we could've prosecuted Trevor Weller. However, my men did their duty and I will not have them penalized for it. You'll convince Ambassador Weller to tell the press that it wasn't either Detective Sandburg's or Detective Ellison's fault If you don't comply we'll give all the information we have on Weller's murder to your government. Including information of the 7 rapes-murders and your family connection to the Laslo murder.'

'Simon' 'Captain' Sandburg and Ellison protested together.

'Let the dead bury the dead. Weller more than deserves what he received.' Simon said.

'I will do what I can to convince Ambassador Weller.' Colonel Freedman promised.

'We'll be giving the answering machine tape to the FBI. But as you said it is doubtful that they'll get a voice match from it or even piece together it was the killer's voice.' Simon said.

'Answer one more question. How did you kill him?' Ellison asked curiously.

Colonel Freedman smiled enigmatically and said, 'Drinking can be an extremely bad for you.'

'The wine opener. You stabbed him with his own wine opener and pushed CO2 into his heart. And the heart exploded from the resulting pressure', Ellison said.

Sandburg and Ellison remained silent as Colonel Freedman left the conference room. They both looked accusingly at Simon.

'It isn't a perfect world, detectives. In a perfect world Trevor Weller would have been tried and convicted for his crimes. Colonel Freedman wouldn't have felt killing was his only option. At least we now know that that monster won't kill more children. It's the best we can do under the circumstances.'

Ellison and Sandburg nodded slowly at Simon's statement.

Epilog

Ellison watched the news as Ambassador Weller gave his speech telling the media the Cascade police did all it could to protect his son.

'Switch the channel,' Sandburg said.

'All right, Chief. Do you want to talk about it?'

'Maybe later. I just need to process all this. I'll see you in the morning.'

Hours later Sandburg finally fell asleep.

* Sandburg hummed tunelessly as he walked up the peaceful mountainside. All was quiet but Sandburg realized something was wrong as he gradually increased his pace. Sandburg found himself running frantically up the hill until he reached the cabin.

Sandburg glanced around feeling safer. When he approached the door the feeling of panic came back tenfold. He didn't want to open the door but he found himself pushing door open. Sandburg cried out as he came face to face with a man hanging gently from the rafters.

When the man turned suddenly Sandburg realized it was his Sentinel.

The man opened his blue lips and asked, 'Why didn't you save me?'

'NO!' Sandburg screamed. *

The end


End file.
